Get Out!: Scene's Events Blog

1/10: Donna the Buffalo at Kent Stage

For nearly 20 years, singer and multi-instrumentalist Tara Nevins and singer-guitarist Jeb Puryear have guided Donna the Buffalo through a sonic travelogue of American music, serving up a gumbo of bluegrass, rootsy rock, folk and country, spiced with exotic bits of Cajun and reggae. Considering the diverse genres that the band draws upon and the freewheeling manner in which it interprets them — particularly with Nevins’ Emmylou Harris/Dolly Parton/Natalie Merchant warble and Puryear’s laconic Buddy Miller delivery — the group has become a rootsy fave within the jam community. The beauty of Donna’s presentation and the secret of their success and longevity is the purely organic way they weave genres together without diluting them. Many bands can’t generate this kind of enthusiasm and energy in half as much time and with half as many albums that Donna the Buffalo have over two decades and seven studio albums. Check them out at 8 p.m. at the Kent Stage (175 E. Main St., Kent, 330.677.5005). Tickets: $20. — Brian Baker